한국인에서 일광노출과 자외선차단제에 대한 인식과 사용 행태 연구

Background: Although sunscreen is used as a primary strategy for the prevention of sunburn, photoaging, and skincancer, few people regularly use sunscreen. Objective: To investigate awareness regarding the effects of sunlight, the extent of sun exposure, and sunscreen usebehaviors in Korean subjects. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 467 adult patients who visited the Dermatology Department at SeoulNational University Boramae Hospital. The questionnaire covered demographic characteristics, causes of wrinkles,sunspots, and skin cancer, awareness of the harmful effects of sun exposure, perceived and actual extent of sunexposure, and the use of sun-protective methods including sunscreen. Results: Sun exposure was selected as the major cause of age spots (60.6%), skin cancer (60.9%), and wrinkles(25.9%). Respondents were likely to underestimate the extent of sun exposure. On average, quite a few respondentsstated that they were exposed to sunlight for more than one hour per day (22.7% on weekdays, 52.4% onweekends). However, only 9.4% of respondents thought that their sun exposure was problematic and 62.7% ofrespondents considered moderate sunlight exposure healthy. Respondents`` sun-protective behaviors were inadequate:only 29.8% used sunscreen regularly, and 16.5% have never used sunscreen. SPF was the most important factor inchoosing sunscreen, and 83.3% used a sunscreen with a labeled SPF over 30. By contrast, only 34.6% ofrespondents used PA+++ sunscreen. Conclusion: Despite fairly good knowledge regarding the harmful effects of sunlight, subjects underestimated therisks of their sun exposure and sun-protective behaviors were suboptimal. Education on the risk of UV exposure andeffects of sunscreen is still needed. (Korean J Dermatol 2015;53(1):16∼22)